Great Meals for a Change

A fun way to taste, talk and learn about sustainable food

Great Meal Activities

PuzzleA pair of volunteer hosts invite 5-7 of their friends to a Great Meal at their home featuring sustainable food. In addition to cooking a tasty meal from a choice of seasonal recipes provided as part of the program, the hosts facilitate simple educational activities across the meal:

  • Pre-Meal Puzzle Game: Guests put together a puzzle picturing the five principles of sustainable food purchasing (see the puzzle image on our Home Page). They then discuss how specific items and purchasing strategies could be categorized according to the principles.
  • Menu: There is an attractive menu at each place setting that identifies the food being served and details where it can be bought, and the extent to which it meets the sustainable food principles. A placemat elaborates on the five principles.
  • Story Sharing & Food Cards: During the meal, the guests take turns selecting and reading cards that either provide intriguing questions and information about food issues or invite people to share experiences and stories about sustainable food.
  • Sustainable Food Step: After dessert the hosts ask each person to identify and share with a partner one practical way to increase their consumption of sustainable food in relation to their preferences. They are invited to write their idea on a postcard that is sent to them several weeks later as a reminder.
  • Take Away Materials: The kit includes the menu, recipes, copy of guest's placemat with principles, "Sustainable Food Steps" Sheet and an invitation to host a similar meal with their friends.

Great Meals Tool Kit

The Tool Kit provides all the materials to host 'Great Meals for a Change.’ One kit does lots and lots of meals if you keep track of it and share it around.

 

 

 

 

What is in a kit?

Post CardPermanent Kit Elements (Reusable)

  • 1 host's manual
  • 1 host's cue cards (7 cards)
  • 1 puzzle in a cloth sack (48 pieces)
  • 1 set of apple cards (18 cards)
  • 1 deck of Story Sharing and Food Cards (40 cards)
  • 8 laminated placemats (11 by 17 inches) with core principles and action choices
  • 'Great Meals for Change' cloth bag to store all the parts

Items Used with Each Meal

The tool kit includes enough paper copies of these items for six guests at the first meal. For additional meals, we will provide you with links to the files so you can download and print more whenever you need them.

  • 6 'Sustainable Food Habit' posters (11 by 14 inches)
  • 6 'Sustainable Food Steps' sheets
  • 6 Postcards
  • 8 Menus (not in kit, includes 2 for hosts): Choose recipes on website, customize menu, download and print

 

Who makes the kits and how?

BreadA big part of 'Great Meals for a Change' is practicing what we promote. To support sustainable consumer choices, the kit materials were created through a community effort using small local businesses, artists, and recycled materials. The kit bags are made of natural recycled cotton, and the puzzle bags are hand sewn from re-used fabric.

A special thanks goes to Lois Bearden of Harbourville, Nova Scotia for drawing the puzzle and placemat images, and to the 'Plank & Hammer' of Waterville, Nova Scotia for their amazing craftsmanship in making the wooden puzzle. The Plank & Hammer is a vocational workshop for people with cognitive and/or emotional challenges.

The kits are sold at the cost of production, packaging, and shipping. Our goal is to sustainably distribute the kits as a tool to facilitate healthy food and a sustainable planet.